Hackworth was in Mexico for treatments of bladder cancer, which he had battled for some time.

“He died in my arms yesterday morning,” his wife, Eilhys England, said today.

Hackworth pushed for streamlined military and improved conditions for troops.

“Hack never lost his focus,” said Roger Charles, president of Soldiers for the Truth, a California-based veterans group for which Hackworth served as chairman. “That focus was on the young kids that our country sends to bleed and die on our behalf. Everything he did in his retirement was to try to give them a better chance to win and to come home. That’s one hell of a legacy.”

“Hack genuinely loved his boys — and that meant any and all U.S. servicemen,” said WND’s Joseph Farah, who recruited Hackworth as a columnist in 1998. “That meant any time I needed advice on military questions, Hack was always helpful in providing answers and context. He could always link you up with servicemen and vets who would have answers if he didn’t. We’ve lost a tremendous networking force for the men in the field. We’ve lost a genuine, one-of-a-kind American hero.”